Re: C-section compared w/ myomectomy?

[Guest guest]

I just had a myo and my partner previously had a c-section 2 years ago. She

was definately more fit but it took longer for her to get back to normal than

me. I attribute the reason to fatigue, up all night with the baby and nursing

on top of trying to heal herself. So I'd say a myo was an easier recovery in

my household anyway!

Besides, everyone is fawning over the baby, and you dont get quite as much

pampering! She had 5 days in the hospital whereas I had 2 days.

course, I only " delivered " a fibroid so maybe that's the trade off!

[Guest guest]

Had a C-sec (unplanned) with my first baby 16 years

ago. Haven't had a myo, so can't compare. They gave me

the epidural first, and it DIDN'T TAKE, so they gave

me general. Lucky for me, my hubby took two weeks off

work after the baby was born. It would have been hard

to be on my own! I mainly remember being very, very

tired most of the time. Everything worked out fine.

[Guest guest]

Hi Sonja,

I'm going to reply not only to your post about C-sections, but to your answer to

my post about my fibroids!

First, my fibroids are ranging in size from 5.5 to 2.5 centimeters. The biggest

appears to be a pendunculated one on the " outside " (subserosal). The other two

are intramural. I think they are all on the left side....I get pretty much all

of my major discomfort there. Oddly enough when I saw my gyno he didn't have the

pictures...they were taken through our local hospital and I guess they are

" stored " there. I'll have to go and pick them up and go over the pics with him.

We both agreed that we'll wait until early June and then do another ultrasound

unless things get worse. I don't have time to have to recuperate at this time. I

guess if I need surgery (can't stand it any more or there is rapid growth) I'll

schedule it for the summer. I don't work in the summer.

As far as all of your C-section questions go: I had one over 18 years ago so

things may be quite different now. I had a laproscopy surgery one year prior to

having my son (ovarian cyst burst) and I'd say my recovery from the C-section

was actually quicker. I had my beautiful baby to keep me from thinking about

pain or discomfort!

I had an epidural and I would say that the pain/discomfort of it was nothing

compared to going through labor for 11 hours and only getting to 6cm!! I was not

groggy but was totally awake for my son's birth.

Caring for my son was not difficult with the C-section. My husband did stay at

home for a few days-week and my mom was with us after he went to work for a bit.

I did get a breast infection when he was a month old, totally unrelated to a

C-section obviously. THAT was far more painful and dibilitating! Not only is it

painful but you just feel plain old sick, like having the flu.

The reason I had the section was because my water broke first thing....I wasn't

progressing...just to about 6 cm like I said. When my son was delivered his poor

head was almost cone shaped. He had a very big head and it probably kept jamming

against the cervix and made it swell up....I'm sure there were other reasons. I

did have another son 2 1/2 years later vaginally.

I'd be glad to tell you anything more off line too.

Take care.

Robin

[Guest guest]

Hi Sonja,

I haven't had myo, but I had a C section (at age 34). Mine was

due to labor that didn't progress. I went to the hospital on Wed.

for an ultrasound (due date 5/10, birth 5/31), and they kept me!

The most difficult time was really getting from Wed. afternoon to

Friday night. Two days of induction were total hell. You will be

much better off going in at a scheduled date and time. And don't

forget a pillow to hold against your tummy on the way home. (I swear

my husband hit every pot hole he could find.) You'll be prepared for

all of that. Big Plus!!! I delivered Friday night and went home

Monday morning (I was packed and dressed when the doc got there---he

didn't stand a chance of keeping me.) General Anesthesia (wasn't

given a choice.) Pain medicine? Morphine. After surgery I didn't

take any pain meds (although I wish I had had some when I first

arrived home after the pot hole ride!) Slight discomforts, but never

actual pain from the surgery. I never considered what effect the

morphine might have had on my breast milk until after I was already

breast feeding. Perhaps if you ask Dr. , he could give you an

opinion on what would be safest choice for your baby. I was up the

next morning. Got yelled at for walking down to the nursery (I was

supposed to wait for a wheelchair – Oh Well!) Probably took about

6 months for my body to totally recover. Up until then I would feel

a pull here or a pull there, nothing major, but a gentle reminder

that I had had surgery. Breast feeding highly recommended. Not only

for the baby's benefit, but it's soooooo easy (at least it was

for me). If I had had to get up and prepare a bottle, I probably

would have never made it! First week was the roughest. Had to be

waited on continuously. I breast fed and slept. That was about it.

The second week, I could at least get off my laurels for short

periods of time to cook or do light cleaning. You definitely need

help that first week, and preferably the second week too. As far as

regretting having to give up natural child birth? I think it

bothered me for awhile (post-partum blues) because I had planned it

all out, but in the end it really didn't matter. All that

mattered was bonding with my daughter. Hope this helps!

Best wishes,

Gerri

> To those of you ladies who have had C-sections,

[Guest guest]

Morphine is considered " safe " when your breastfeeding. They gave me

morphine while I was breastfeeding when I went to the ER for an ovarian

cyst that burst. They gave me Toridol first, but it didn't make a dent in

the pain.

I hope that if you decide to breastfeed, it comes easily to you. If it

doesn't, though, you'll have plenty of company. Breastfeeding takes a bit

of getting used to sometimes--for both mother and baby. My daughter had

trouble latching on correctly--she kept latching onto the nipple instead of

the areola. I had to keep unlatching her and letting her latch on again

until she got it right, so she wouldn't damage my breast. She ended up

damaging one breast anyway. I got a blister on my nipple and had to keep my

daughter off of it for a week (I pumped so I wouldn't get mastitis). I

talked to several lactation consultants and my midwife in my quest to make

breastfeeding work, but in the end, the thing that helped the most was

time. After about 6 weeks, Holly got much better at breastfeeding. But the

first 6 weeks were extremely frustrating. My husband would come home from

work and find me in tears because we were having so much trouble with

breastfeeding. Interestingly enough, there was an article in the Boston

Globe on Feb. 3 by a pediatrician who points out that sure, breast is best

for a lot of reasons, but if mother and/or baby are having trouble with

breastfeeding, mother shouldn't feel guilty if she has to give up

breastfeeding because it's stressing her out too much or alienating her

from her baby. I thought the article was great because you'll hear from

lots of breastfeeding advocates, but not from many people who understand

what's it's like to have major problems with breastfeeding. Here's the link

to the article:

http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/diseases/articles/2004/02/03/sure_breast_i\

s_best_but_is_it_worth_it/

As I said, I hope you don't have any problems. Breastfeeding can be a

wonderful bonding experience when it goes well.

Cheryl

At 02:03 AM 2/6/2004 +0000, Gerri wrote:

>Hi Sonja,

>

>I haven't had myo, but I had a C section (at age 34). Mine was

>due to labor that didn't progress. I went to the hospital on Wed.

>for an ultrasound (due date 5/10, birth 5/31), and they kept me!

>The most difficult time was really getting from Wed. afternoon to

>Friday night. Two days of induction were total hell. You will be

>much better off going in at a scheduled date and time. And don't

>forget a pillow to hold against your tummy on the way home. (I swear

>my husband hit every pot hole he could find.) You'll be prepared for

>all of that. Big Plus!!! I delivered Friday night and went home

>Monday morning (I was packed and dressed when the doc got there---he

>didn't stand a chance of keeping me.) General Anesthesia (wasn't

>given a choice.) Pain medicine? Morphine. After surgery I didn't

>take any pain meds (although I wish I had had some when I first

>arrived home after the pot hole ride!) Slight discomforts, but never

>actual pain from the surgery. I never considered what effect the

>morphine might have had on my breast milk until after I was already

>breast feeding. Perhaps if you ask Dr. , he could give you an

>opinion on what would be safest choice for your baby. I was up the

>next morning. Got yelled at for walking down to the nursery (I was

>supposed to wait for a wheelchair – Oh Well!) Probably took about

>6 months for my body to totally recover. Up until then I would feel

>a pull here or a pull there, nothing major, but a gentle reminder

>that I had had surgery. Breast feeding highly recommended. Not only

>for the baby's benefit, but it's soooooo easy (at least it was

>for me). If I had had to get up and prepare a bottle, I probably

>would have never made it! First week was the roughest. Had to be

>waited on continuously. I breast fed and slept. That was about it.

>The second week, I could at least get off my laurels for short

>periods of time to cook or do light cleaning. You definitely need

>help that first week, and preferably the second week too. As far as

>regretting having to give up natural child birth? I think it

>bothered me for awhile (post-partum blues) because I had planned it

>all out, but in the end it really didn't matter. All that

>mattered was bonding with my daughter. Hope this helps!